Japanese symbol for “calling”
職業
しょくぎょう
Romaji: shokugyou
occupation; profession; job; vocation
In Japanese, calling is 職業, read しょくぎょう (shokugyou).
Before using these characters for a tattoo, check them with a native speaker. Dictionary words often have several meanings, and the right choice depends on context.
Meanings
- n occupation; profession; job; vocation; career; trade
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “calling”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 呼ばわり | よばわり yobawari | calling (someone a thief, coward, etc.); branding (as); denouncing |
| 招致 | しょうち shouchi | invitation; summons; bidding (e.g. to host the Olympics) |
| 商売 | しょうばい shoubai | occupation; calling; profession |
| 生業 | なりわい nariwai | occupation; calling |
| 天職 | てんしょく tenshoku | vocation; lifework; calling |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 職場 | しょくば shokuba | one's post; place of work; workplace |
| 職員 | しょくいん shokuin | staff member; employee; worker |
| 就職 | しゅうしょく shuushoku | finding employment; getting a job |
| 退職 | たいしょく taishoku | retirement; resignation |
| 職人 | しょくにん shokunin | craftsman; artisan; tradesman |
| 企業 | きぎょう kigyou | enterprise; business; company |
| 事業 | じぎょう jigyou | business; enterprise; venture |
| 営業 | えいぎょう eigyou | business; trade; operations |
See also: Chinese symbol for “calling”.
Data: JMdict (CC BY-SA 4.0); KANJIDIC2 (CC BY-SA 4.0); KanjiVG (CC BY-SA 3.0); wordfreq (CC BY-SA 4.0 (data)). Retrieved 2026-10-22.